Primer cups with handles

[HBergh]

Can someone please let me know how and when the primer cups on the early Dodge engines were used? Thanks.

[Rusty_OToole]

They were used to start the car when the engine was cold. You could fill the cups with gas, open the tap and the gas would get sucked in on the intake stroke,when you turned the engine with the crank handle.

Once the engine was "primed" in this way it would start easily with a pull on the handle. Provided you set the spark and throttle controls correctly and provided everything was in good shape, these old engines were very easy to start. You didn't need to crank and crank, a half turn of the handle would do the trick.

When the engine was warm you could often start them without cranking just by advancing the spark.

[Guest imported_RAH]

Howard,

Rusty explained the function of the primer cups. They were on DBs from the beginning to '23. The early ones were cast brass with handle on the side. In '17 they switched to a cast iron more 'V' shaped with a cast flattened handle up through the center. Later ('18 or '19)they switched to a stamped bowl shaped design with a 'L' shaped bent rod handle also up through the canter. This continued to '23. I hope this helps.

Rodger "Dodger" Hartley

[HBergh]

Thank you Rodger and Rusty!

[Machinist_Bill]

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />I have a 1924 Engine, A85-176, that looks to be original with primer cups. Is this possible, or, a head change sometime during history? Thanks in advance, Bill

[dwollam]

Every 24 I have or had has primer cups.

Dave

[Guest DBtouring]

Rusty O'Toole

Please explain to me what you mean when you say "When the engine was warm you could often start them without cranking just by advancing the spark." I don't understand what you mean when you say you could crank them without cranking.

Thanks

[Rusty_OToole]

This was possible on old cars that had trembler coil ignition from Ford Model T to Rolls Royce.

The ignition made a continuous buzzing spark as long as the timer was in the right spot.

So, suppose you stop your car and go into a store for a few minutes. You come out and the motor is warm and there is a charge of gas vapor in the cylinders. If you turn on the ignition and advance the spark, if one cylinder is at top dead center it may well fire off and away goes the engine!

Sometimes this would happen just by turning on the ignition, if the engine stopped exactly at top dead center.

With a 6 cylinder car like a Rolls the chances of doing this trick were even higher than with a 4 cylinder.

[Manuel]

Model A/B Fords were the same too. If the engine is warm and u turn on the ignition switch sometimes the car will start.

Manuel in Oz

[Jan Arnett]

People used to talk about kicking the tire on a Model T to get them to start and usually what happened was the spark lever moved a little which caused the plug to fire.